Niall McGuinness has set his sights on an elusive first league win as Flint manager in Saturday’s home clash with lowly Queen’s Park.

Currently 11th in the table with only four wins from 14 this term, McGuinness has acknowledged the Silkmen’s precarious league position.

Since taking charge in late November, the former Rhyl boss has overseen two league defeats and is keen to start the new year with a victory.

The signing of Jacob Lever, Jacques Welsh and Jack Lewis have bolstered Flint’s defensive options and McGuinness hopes that a full-strength Flint side can improve quickly.

He said: “I think we’re in a bit of a false position in the league, but then again the table doesn’t lie and we know we need points on the board.

“It’s a new year and a new start for us, that’s how we’re looking at it and hopefully we can start as we mean to go on with  a win.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how we fare with a few of the additions we’ve made and hopefully they can make a big difference for us.

“Queen’s Park are a good side and are always willing to battle hard for the points.

“There’s a strong work ethic there, a good spirit and they can play a bit as well so they’ll make it difficult for us I’m sure.

“But we’ll just look after ourselves and focus on our strengths. If we do that we can match anyone in this league.”

Park manager Martin Ford says the clash  is ‘massive’ for both sides.

Winless since August, Park have endured a tough maiden season in the Alliance with only struggling Llandudno Junction keeping them off the foot of the table.

But even a 4-0 reverse at Airbus last weekend, their 11th loss in 14 league outings this term, failed to dampen the spirits of Park boss Ford.

He said: “This is a massive game not only for us but for Flint too. They’re down there this season and are as desperate for a win as we are.

“This is the first of a very tricky run of fixtures for us in the new year, and it should be a very interesting game.

“We played against Niall’s Rhyl team earlier in the season and we know how he’ll set Flint up to play.

“There’s no fear on our part. We’ve got bodies back and if we can put out something like our best XI I’m confident we can come away from there with something.”

Attacking midfielder Marl Cadwallader returns for Flint, while Shaun Cartwright, Helder Ramos and Tristan Wagner are back for the visitors, although Queen’s Park defender Edgar Lima misses the game through suspension.

Holywell boss John Haseldin believes the structuring of this season’s fixture schedule has given his side a “mountain to climb”.

Six of the Wellmen’s last seven Alliance games have come away from home, with just one fixture played at Halkyn Road since Saturday, September 30.

Last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Rhyl ended the club’s three-game winning streak and Haseldin has called for renewed focus ahead of their match at Holyhead Hotspur.

He said: “It’s not been easy playing so many away games back-to-back.

“Looking at the fixture list and the teams we’ve played I don’t think anyone’s had a run of games as tough as ours.

“In the last six weeks we’ve gone to Caernarfon, Airbus, Flint and Rhyl and which is about as tough as it gets in this league and gave us a mountain to climb.

“The fact that we’re still among the league’s top six sides at this point is testament to the commitment and quality of the players we’ve got here.”

Holywell’s last home game saw them claim a routine 4-0 win against Hotspur, courtesy of a Steve Lewis hat-trick.

But Haseldin expects a sterner test for his players on an exposed Anglesey pitch which is rarely conducive to fluid attacking football.

“When you go there it’s usually a case of playing the conditions” added Haseldin.

“I’ve been up there in August before and there were high winds then so an early January game will be even tougher.

“They were unlucky to only take a point from the Cearnarfon game last time, so we know it’s going to be tough to come away with anything.”

Town have no fresh injury concerns with defender Gareth Sudlow set to feature once more after returning from suspension.

The cancellation of Gresford’s home game with Denbigh last weekend was ‘disruptive’ according to Steve Halliwell.

Athletic’s manager insists his in-form side were confident of extending their five-game unbeaten run before the saturated Clappers Lane pitch forced the game to be postponed.

Gresford host Penrhyncoch with Halliwell’s side keen to avenge their 3-1 loss in a bad-tempered reverse fixture last August.

He said: “With the run we’ve been on, we were obviously disappointed not to play the Denbigh game.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and we felt they had a few missing and were there for the taking.

“But it was the right decision and hopefully our pitch will hold up for the Penrhyncoch game.

“We were  in the middle of a bad run of results when we lost to them last time and we remember some of them telling us we were going down this season.

“So there’s our motivation right there. There’s a bit of needle there and there’s no team talk required.

“We’ve pulled clear of the bottom of the table ourselves and we want to keep climbing with another win on Saturday.”

Striker Owen Roberts misses the game for Athletic, who are otherwise at full-strength.

Newly-appointed Rhyl manager Matthew Jones will take charge of the resurgent Lilywhites for their home game with Porthmadog.

Mark Connolly will continue as director of football at the club and will still be part of the first team management arrangements following his successful interim role.

The change in roles will allow Connolly to devote more time to pursue coaching qualifications.

Leaders Caernarfon Town visit Denbigh, who have appointed Richard Williams-Cooke as assistant manager, while Ruthin Town host Guilsfield and Llandudno Junction make their way to Caersws.